Defamation notice: Tareen files Rs30b suit against Shahbaz Sharif
PTI leader asks court to bar Shahbaz from making such statements.
Jahangir Tareen, Shahbaz Sharif. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
A sessions judge served notice on Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif after PTI Secretary-General Jahangir Tareen filed a Rs30 billion defamation suit against him.
Tareen took Shahbaz to court over allegations of securing bank loan waivers and usurping public funds.
In the petition filed with the Islamabad District and Sessions Judge (West) Kamran Basharat Mufti, the PTI leader refuted Shahbaz’s claims.
The plaintiff contended that the chief minister made the statement while addressing a public gathering in Rajanpur on April 25 this year.
Tareen argued that the Punjab chief minister repeated the allegations at a news conference on October 26. Video clips of both events were submitted before the court.
The court admitted the petition and issued a notice to Shahbaz, directing him to submit a reply by November 12.
In response to Shahbaz’s April statement, Tareen had sent a legal notice on April 27, urging him to withdraw the “slanderous statement”, tender an apology and publish a contradiction.
In reply to the legal notice, Shahbaz Sharif demanded copies of letters the banks had issued in Tareen’s favour. “The reply was an attempt to … shift the burden of proof onto the plaintiff,” the petition reads.
“The statements constitute wrongful, tortuous and defamatory acts of the defendant which have injured the good reputation and high standing in society of the plaintiff,” the petition says.
Tareen has demanded Rs30 billion in damages, as well as a permanent injunction from the court restraining Shahbaz from directly or indirectly repeating the allegations. As an interim relief, Tareen also requested the court to bar Shahbaz from making such statements until the case was decided.
Sikandar Bashir Mohmand, the counsel for Tareen, told The Express Tribune that the court has sought Shahbaz Sharif’s response on both the main petition as well as the interim injunction.
The court will now take up the case on November 12.
Tareen also claimed to be the only directly-elected member of the National Assembly in the list of top 100 income taxpayers in the country. He said during the tax year 2011 and 2015, he paid Rs274,475,267 in personal income tax.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 5th, 2016.
A sessions judge served notice on Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif after PTI Secretary-General Jahangir Tareen filed a Rs30 billion defamation suit against him.
Tareen took Shahbaz to court over allegations of securing bank loan waivers and usurping public funds.
In the petition filed with the Islamabad District and Sessions Judge (West) Kamran Basharat Mufti, the PTI leader refuted Shahbaz’s claims.
The plaintiff contended that the chief minister made the statement while addressing a public gathering in Rajanpur on April 25 this year.
Tareen argued that the Punjab chief minister repeated the allegations at a news conference on October 26. Video clips of both events were submitted before the court.
The court admitted the petition and issued a notice to Shahbaz, directing him to submit a reply by November 12.
In response to Shahbaz’s April statement, Tareen had sent a legal notice on April 27, urging him to withdraw the “slanderous statement”, tender an apology and publish a contradiction.
In reply to the legal notice, Shahbaz Sharif demanded copies of letters the banks had issued in Tareen’s favour. “The reply was an attempt to … shift the burden of proof onto the plaintiff,” the petition reads.
“The statements constitute wrongful, tortuous and defamatory acts of the defendant which have injured the good reputation and high standing in society of the plaintiff,” the petition says.
Tareen has demanded Rs30 billion in damages, as well as a permanent injunction from the court restraining Shahbaz from directly or indirectly repeating the allegations. As an interim relief, Tareen also requested the court to bar Shahbaz from making such statements until the case was decided.
Sikandar Bashir Mohmand, the counsel for Tareen, told The Express Tribune that the court has sought Shahbaz Sharif’s response on both the main petition as well as the interim injunction.
The court will now take up the case on November 12.
Tareen also claimed to be the only directly-elected member of the National Assembly in the list of top 100 income taxpayers in the country. He said during the tax year 2011 and 2015, he paid Rs274,475,267 in personal income tax.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 5th, 2016.